Rosalia Pizza

Rosalia is a pizza outlet that opened in the back of the Martina space in early 2021. It is owned and operated by Daniel Del Prado a local chef that now has a mini empire of six outlets in Minneapolis. 

I did not realize at first it was possible to eat in at this restaurant. They do take reservations for tables inside and outside. There are a good number of tables and the room is bright and white with huge windows on one side and lots of greenery as dear throughout. The service is somewhat hands off, possibly due to Covid protocols, where you scan a QR code to bring up the menu and ordering system. The food is delivered as it is prepared or you can order items one at a time and keep adding onto your tab as needed and close out at the end. 

The  menu has a number of interesting starters so tried the tuna with roasted tomato, caper, cilantro, chile oil and lime. The tuna was very fresh tasting and the other ingredients added extra flavor and a bit if spice to the dish. 

We also tried the chopped salad with oregano vin, romaine, pepperoncini, carrot, tomato, sunflower seeds and chevre. There's just something about having a sale with pizza that works. This was a bit different, but very delicious and flavorful. 

We had the pepperoni pizza topped with tomato, mozzarella, parmesan and pepperoni. The pizza is wood fired and the char is excellent. The crust is fairly light and airy with a good amount of toppings and not too much cheese to weigh it down unnecessarily. 

We enjoyed all of the food items we ordered. Since ordering is on your phone, service is fairly hands off, which is fine. There are people you can flag down if you need anything and everyone is friendly and helpful. 

Rosalia Pizza
2811 W 43rd St 
Minneapolis, MN 55410

Phone: (612) 345-5494

https://rosaliapizza.com

Martina brunch

I've been missing going to brunch so much. I mean, getting food to go is fine and all, but going out for a relaxing meal is wonderful. I managed to get a reservation at Martina for brunch and things are back up and running. We were seated right away and they have you use your phone to place your food and beverage orders. The server was available to assist if needed too. It is a rather slick system.  

John had the almond flour pancakes with fruit, butter and almond butter. They were very light in texture yet filling at the same time. 

I had the crab cake eggs benedict. They were tasty and very filling with an excellent hollandaise sauce. 

We also had some potato churros, which I did not remember to get a photos of. I think we had them on a prior visit. They are amazingly delicious potatoes fried like a churro, essentially. 

Let's hope the march to normalcy continues. 

Martina
4312 S Upton Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55410
Phone: (612) 922-9913
https://www.martinarestaurant.com/

Martina restaurant

Since we did not go out of town for the fourth of July as it was in the middle of the week this year, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. And Martina has been making every list in town, so we wanted to check it out. I think it opened late last fall. We arrived a bit early intending to sit at the bar and have a drink, but they said we could be seated right away.

 pao de queijo rolls

Toro Y Gallo cocktail – this is a take on a Moscow mule, but far more Instagrammable.

Viceroy cocktail for John

We started with a few small plates. First was the seared scallops with saffron cream, burnt tomato, flying fish roe and basil. The scallops were seared perfectly and the saffron cream had tons of flavor.

Next, was the charred Brussel sprouts salad with frisee, pancetta, chevre and mustard vin. The cheese had a slight blue cheese flavor which I quite liked. The Brussel sprouts seemed a bit lacking or missing in the dish to me though. More would have given more flavor.

Last, but not least was the spicy tuna tiradito with hibiscus, lime, onion and cilantro. This was amazing. Very flavorful and not too spicy by any means.

John had the spaghetti with lobster or spaghetti fra diavolo with lobster with tomato, roasted fresno, basil and cinnamon. This was a tad spicy and had great, fresh tomato flavor.

I had the cacio e pepe panzotti, with black pepper, butter and parmesan. These were essentially ravioli with a very rich cheese inside. It was great, but it got rich very quickly.

The service was very good throughout our visit. We had a table near the kitchen and we liked seeing all of the different dishes as they were prepared and brought out. The food and the cocktails are all so beautiful and Instagram worthy. I liked the white room with palms and tropical feeling accents as well. It is minimalist feeling without being too empty or loud.


Martina
4312 S Upton Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55410
Phone: (612) 922-9913
https://www.martinarestaurant.com/

Tilia brunch

In our quest for delicious brunch food, we ended up visiting Tilia last weekend on Sunday morning. I have to say, it was not busy at all, so it was a great time to visit. We were seated right away and we started with a couple coffees.

We ordered the canela churros to start. There were tow different sauces on the plate and the dark brown one was sweet and cinnamon flavored and was the best. The white sauce was vanilla and not quite sweet enough to add much to the churros. They were light and fluffy with just a bit of crunch on the exterior, however, the serving was quite small.

John had the fish taco torta. I had enjoyed it a lot on a previous visit and he liked it a lot as well. The fish was light with a crunchy breading and it was topped with slaw, cilantro, lime and tortilla chips.

I had the black bean tostada with pickled onions, cilantro and a hard-boiled egg surrounded by chorizo. The chorizo was very good, and not too spicy, but spicy enough to give the dish some extra flavor. The plate did not look like a huge serving, but I was unable to finish everything.

The food was excellent, but the service was not so great near the end of our visit. We had to ask another  server for our check as we were waiting and waiting and ours did not come by. He took a long time to come back and pick up my card as well.

Here is a link to my Tilia post from a few years ago. It is old, but the menu is still pretty much the same anyway.
http://whereshouldwegomsp.blogspot.com/2012/05/tilia.html


Tilia
2726 West 43rd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55410
(612) 354-2806
http://www.tiliampls.com/

Tilia

My friend Stephanie and I decided since we had such a fun time at Haute Dish awhile back we'd schedule another nice night out at a new (to us) restaurant. I've been hearing a lot about Tilia ever since it opened, but hesitated to check it out since they do not accept reservations and it is a pretty small place. We decided to arrive early, at 5pm so we would not have to wait too long for a table. We were lucky too, on arrival all of the tables were full but there was room for us at the bar, which was just fine with us!

This is the shrimp and it was our favorite dish of the night.  The shrimp were in a spicy tomato sauce that was very flavorful with black beans and peas. We both used the flat bread to get every last bit of the sauce too. I can't wait to go back and have it again.

The flat bread was good, but dipping it in the spicy shrimp sauce took it to a whole new level. The dukka (or peanuts or whatever it was) was fun to have with the olive oil on the flat bread too. I like the crunchiness it added to the bread. It was good to nibble on while we wait for the rest of our food to come up.

We both really enjoyed the pirogi and they tasted great. It was like a mini pot roast and mashed potatoes fried into a dumpling. The outer crust was very crisp and the sauces added a bit of brightness and freshness to the bready pirogi.

We both loved the fish taco torta too. The cilantro and lime combined with the lightly breaded fish was so perfect. The crunch of the breaded fish worked well with the softness of the other ingredients. Very tasty! The whole dish tasted like vacation in Mexico to me!

The mushroom panzanella was also good, but I would probably not order that again. The mushrooms and sauce kind of made the bread soggy which neither of us cared for very much. We probably should have ordered something else that paired better with the other items we ordered.  Everything else had such strong flavors that this seemed sort of bland.

When we ordered dessert we thought we were still hungry, so we both ordered the butterscotch pudding and shared the German chocolate cupcake. The butterscotch dessert was so fabulous! I understand why they serve it in an espresso type cup because was so smooth you could drink it and it was very, very richly flavored. The German chocolate cupcake was good too, very moist with good chocolate flavor, but the butterscotch dessert was really amazing.

The service at the bar was good, though they got quite busy at times and we both liked the small cozy atmosphere of the place. It was very white and sparse inside. We really liked the portion size of the dishes and everything was so beautifully presented. We were able to try quite a few things and not get too full (until dessert). Also, the pricing was great for quality ingredients. I wish I lived nearby so I could stop by all the time and I look forward to going back soon.


Tilia
2726 West 43rd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55410
Phone: 612 354 2806
http://www.tiliampls.com/